Setting up a company in Gibraltar
To set up a company in Gibraltar from abroad, you register it with Companies House Gibraltar, almost always through a firm licensed for company management. The Government puts the standard incorporation time at three working days, with a registration fee of £100 and £10 stamp duty paid when the documents go in.
In short: pick a licensed company manager, agree a private company limited by shares with at least one director and a separate secretary, use a registered office in Gibraltar, file the application with the memorandum and articles, then report the beneficial owners and keep up the annual return, accounts and tax return.
Who may set up a company in Gibraltar, and who files it
Forming and running a Gibraltar company on someone else’s behalf is a licensed activity. The Government’s companies page states that only licensed persons may provide company registration and company management services by way of business. The same page says using a licensed service provider is not a strict requirement, yet advises it and suggests shopping around.
In practice, a founder abroad relies on a provider for one reason above all: the registered office. Companies House Guidance Note 2 says every company must have a registered office address in Gibraltar, and that offering registered office services to the public is regulated under the Financial Services Act 2019. Unless you rent premises on the Rock, the address comes from a licensed firm.
The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) is the regulator. Gibraltar Finance lists company managers and professional trustees among the firms it supervises, so ask any provider which GFSC licence it holds.
Choose the company type
The Companies Act 2014 allows three kinds of company, set out on the Government’s companies page:
- Company limited by shares. The form to look at first for a trading or holding company. Shareholders’ liability is limited to their shares, though banks and landlords often ask directors for personal guarantees.
- Company limited by guarantee, with or without a share capital. Members guarantee a set amount instead of, or as well as, holding shares.
- Unlimited company, with or without share capital. Members carry unlimited liability, so take advice before you choose it.
A company limited by shares can be private or public. A public company needs at least two directors, a qualified secretary and stricter accounts, so a private company is the simpler choice for a single business.
If you already run a company elsewhere, you may not need a new one. Companies House notes that a foreign company can register a branch or a place of business in Gibraltar, and that a company incorporated abroad can be re-domiciled there, becoming a Gibraltar company without moving its assets.
Firms listed in Gibraltar also form trusts, foundations, protected cell companies, limited partnerships and funds. If your plan needs one of these, raise it at the first meeting, because it changes the licence your provider must hold.
What a Gibraltar company needs
Before your provider files anything, these pieces must be agreed:
- A name the Registrar accepts. Name approval is the first step, and Companies House publishes separate guidance on sensitive words and expressions.
- A memorandum and articles of association. The provider usually drafts them from its standard set and adapts them to your share structure.
- Directors. Under Guidance Note 10, a private company needs at least one director and a public company at least two.
- A secretary. Every company must have one, and a sole director cannot be the secretary. Your provider often fills the role.
- A registered office in Gibraltar, from incorporation onwards.
- Share capital. Stamp duty is charged on the nominal capital at incorporation, so agree the amount and currency with your adviser.
- Ownership details. Your provider will ask for identity, address and source-of-funds evidence for every owner and director before it acts.
Steps to set up a company in Gibraltar
- Choose a licensed provider and pass its checks. Have certified passports, proof of address and a short description of the business ready.
- Agree the structure. Company type, shareholders, directors, secretary, share capital and financial year end.
- Clear the name with the Company Registrar.
- Sign the documents. The application to register a company, the memorandum and the articles, plus the first notice of the registered office and the particulars of the directors and secretary.
- File at Companies House and pay the fees. The Registrar issues a Certificate of Incorporation once the company is formed.
- Report the beneficial owners within 30 days of incorporation.
- Finish the set-up. Open a bank account, apply through the Office of Fair Trading if you will trade from Gibraltar, and register as an employer before you hire.
The company is registered for corporation tax automatically when it is incorporated, so there is no separate tax registration step for the company itself.
Companies House fees and timing
Guidance Note 19 lists the Companies House fees (updated August 2025):
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Incorporation | £100.00 |
| Stamp duty on nominal share capital | £10.00 |
| Same-day incorporation (documents in before 12.00 midday) | £200.00 extra |
| Incorporation within two hours (documents in between 9:00am and 3:00pm) | £500.00 extra |
| Annual return filed within 30 days | £103.00 |
| Particulars of directors and secretaries | £26.00 per form |
These are the registry’s charges only. The Government’s own estimate is that setting up a limited company through a licensed provider “may cost well over £400”, because the provider prepares the documents and usually adds the registered office and secretary. Ask for a written quote that separates the first year from the yearly fees.
Corporate tax and VAT in Gibraltar
The Income Tax Office states that corporation tax for most companies rose to 15% from 1 July 2024. Utility companies and companies with a dominant market position pay 20%.
Gibraltar taxes income on a territorial basis. Section 11 of the Income Tax Act 2010 charges tax on income “accruing in or derived from Gibraltar”. Whether a given profit falls inside that test depends on where the activity takes place and how the company earns its income, which is a question for a Gibraltar tax adviser rather than a rule of thumb.
The company files a complete tax return within nine months after the end of the month in which its accounting period ends. Once it has a tax history, it also makes two payments on account, by 28 February and 30 September, and settles any balance with the return. Penalties for late returns start at £100 for a micro or small company.
On indirect tax, Gibraltar Finance states that Gibraltar has no VAT. Selling into the UK, Spain or the EU may still bring VAT or customs obligations in those markets, so check them with your adviser.
Your own tax residence matters too. A Gibraltar company owned or managed from another country may also be taxed there, so take advice at home before you incorporate.
Business licence and hiring staff
Incorporation alone does not let a company trade from premises in Gibraltar. The Office of Fair Trading now runs a single Business Application for every business: one online form that covers registration, plus a business licence where the activity needs one. You supply directors’ identification, the company’s incorporation number and a lease for the business premises, and the Office publishes a notice of your application within 5 working days.
Regulated activities, such as financial services supervised by the GFSC, need their own licence as well, so check this before you commit to premises.
Hiring brings two more registrations. The Income Tax Office asks a new employer for its Employment Registration Certificate and Certificate of Incorporation, then expects income tax and social insurance to be deducted from pay and paid over by the 15th of every month.
Yearly filings for a Gibraltar company
The obligations follow a fixed calendar:
- Annual return. Made up to the anniversary of incorporation and delivered within 30 days, under section 188 of the Companies Act 2014.
- Accounts. A private company files them within 12 months of its financial year end. Under Guidance Note 25, micro and small companies file an abridged balance sheet only, and all limited companies need an audit unless they qualify for the small company exemptions.
- Tax return within nine months after the end of the month in which the accounting period ends, with payments on account as above.
- Beneficial ownership. The Register of Ultimate Beneficial Owners Regulations 2017 require the owners’ details within 30 days of incorporation and any material change within 30 days.
- Officers and address. A change of director or secretary is filed within 14 days; a change of registered office within 30 days.
Missing any of these brings late fees, and the Registrar can treat a company that stops filing returns as one that has ceased to operate. You can leave this calendar with the firm that acts as secretary, or with an accountant listed for corporate secretarial work, accounting, tax compliance, audit or payroll.
If you plan to move to Gibraltar too
A Gibraltar company does not by itself give you residence there. Gibraltar runs separate regimes for individuals: Category 2 status for high net worth individuals and HEPSS for higher executives with specialist skills, each based on a certificate issued by Gibraltar Finance. The conditions and the tax that applies are set out by Gibraltar Finance, and an application needs advice of its own. Firms listed for residency and visas in Gibraltar handle these files.
Firms in Gibraltar that can help
Accountanty lists 30 firms in Gibraltar: 17 corporate services providers, 10 accounting firms and 3 law firms. Of these, 25 offer company formation in Gibraltar, where you will find how to compare providers and what a quote should include, and 25 name clients from abroad as a focus; see accountants for foreign clients in Gibraltar.
The sectors these firms name most often are funds, crypto, fintech and online gaming, followed by real estate, shipping and yachting. Some also help with bank accounts or provide a virtual office.
One free quote request through Accountanty reaches several of them: Accountanty reviews it and passes it on to the firms that match your plans.
Before you start
The registry steps are short and the official fees are modest. The time goes on choosing a licensed provider, passing its checks and sorting out your own tax position. Do those well, and the decision to set up a company in Gibraltar comes down to a three-day filing and a yearly calendar your provider can run for you.